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Landmark Maritime Building Hauls in Downtown Gourmet Marketplace

<div class="image"><img src="http://nymag.com/images/2/daily/food/07/07/10_impressivebuilding_sm.jpg"/></p></div>The city&#8217;s seafaring future smells like tapenade and baguettes, now that a grand second-floor space at the Governors Island ferry terminal belongs to the Poulakakos family, the clan behind both H Bayard&#8217;s and the dainty downtown bakery <a href="http://nymag.com/listings/stores/financier-patisserie02/">Financier</a>. According to a press release from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Dermot Companies will develop the Battery Maritime Building at South Ferry into a boutique hotel.

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They couldn't find anyplace nicer to house the gourmet food market?Photo: Courtesy New York City Economic Development Corporation

The city’s seafaring future smells like tapenade and baguettes, now that a grand second-floor space at the Governors Island ferry terminal belongs to the Poulakakos family, the clan behind both H Bayard’s and the dainty downtown bakery Financier. According to a press release from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the Dermot Companies will develop the Battery Maritime Building at South Ferry into a boutique hotel.

And what would a boutique hotel be without a mezzanine-level “specialty foods marketplace and education center”? There’s no need to fear, though, that hackleback caviar will totally erase the aroma of the daily catch from South Street. According to Robert LaValva, who’s trying to start an enclosed seasonal marketplace for local purveyors at South Street Seaport, the Maritime Building’s opulent mezzanine will leave plenty of room for the butchers, cheesemongers, and other vendors near the Seaport’s buzzing apartment scene. “Whatever this is,” says LaValva of the Poulakakos effort, “it’s not going to be selling carrots.” —Alec Appelbaum
Earlier:South Street Seaport: Some Fresh Food With Your Towers?